Werkmeister falls in round of 32, Sweet 16 set at Michigan Am

MUSKEGON – Tom Werkmeister’s two weeks of Michigan golf brilliance was halted in the second round of matches in the 102nd Michigan Amateur Championship sponsored by Miles of Golf/Kendall Academy/Titleist.

Andrew Chapman, a 33-year financial advisor, former University of Michigan golfer and reinstated amateur, outlasted Werkmeister in 21 holes in an afternoon round of 32 Thursday at Muskegon Country Club Thursday.

Werkmeister, the 2009 Michigan Amateur champion who last week was the first amateur to win the Michigan Open in 38 years, led the field for the first two days of stroke play as medalist, and won his morning match (2 and 1 over Carson Castellani).

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“It will take some time to recover from this one,” he said. “I had loftier goals than to lose in the second round. I would definitely say he outplayed me. I only made two birdies today, and that’s not going to cut it. It wasn’t easy out there, but I didn’t play like I have been playing.”

Chapman bombed his drive on the No. 3 hole, the final hole of the match with Werkmeister, and had exactly 40 yards left on the 383-yard par 4. He said he called on a drill he worked on just last week with Scott Hebert, the head professional at Grand Traverse Resort and Spa and a six-time Michigan Open champion. He hit the shot to four-feet and made the winning birdie.

“We hit these little shots from 40 yards, 50 yards, 60 yards, all the way back to 110,” he said. “I had 40 right on the button, so that is a shot I have no problem with.”

Chapman said his matches with Hebert have also helped him in his approach to meeting Werkmeister in the second round of matches.

“I don’t really think about who I’m playing, and my pro at home is Scott Hebert, and we play straight up all the time,” he said. “He’s pretty good, so I’m alright no matter who I get paired up against. Tom and I had a good match. We had some sloppy holes, but we had some good ones. He’s a great guy, a great champion. He’s a strong, strong player, so I was fortunate to get past him.”

Chapman headed the “Sweet 16” when the round of 64 and 32 matches were complete. He will play another Traverse City golfer in the round of 16 in Nikolaj Brons-Piche, an 18-year-old Texas Wesleyan University golfer who also plays out of Grand Traverse Resort. Piche beat Bryan Nordquist of Kalamazoo 3 and 2 in the round of 32.

Others moving on include Casey Baker, 35 and a former Golf Association of Michigan champion who took out two of the local favorites to reach the “Sweet 16” for the fourth time.

The vice-president of Carl’s Golfland in Bloomfield Hills beat the local favorite, 19-year-old Reed Hrynewich, a Muskegon CC member, in 19 holes in the round of 32, and beat Mona Shores teacher Kyle Kurant 4 and 3 in the morning.

“I got the local guys and I think even my caddie I hired was a teammate of (Hrynewich), so he was conflicted,” Baker quipped.

Baker is confident, in part, because he likes the golf course.

“It’s one of my favorite ones that we play,” he said.

One former champion, 45-year-old Greg Davies of Waterford, the 2006 champion, is still in the hunt for another title. He beat Blaze Hogan of Big Rapids in the round of 32 by a 3 and 2 score.

Russ Cunningham of DeWitt, the Oakland University golf coach who was the GAM Golfer of the Decade in the 2000s, beat Erik Schleicher in the final match of the day to make it to the round of 16.

A pair of 51-year-old amateurs stayed alive with Scott Wirth of Grand Blanc and Tom Gieselman of Commerce Township reaching the round of 16. Wirth beat Spencer Slade of Saline 4 and 3 behind six birdies in the round of 32, and Gieselman took out Muskegon CC member Joe Balaskovitz of Montague, 1-up. Also in the final 16 is 49-year-old Mike Ignasiak of Saline, who is a former major league pitcher.

The youngsters are represented, too. Justin Pahl, a 17-year-old from White Lake and Lakeside High School, is the youngest still in the mix, but he is joined by Sam Weatherhead of Grand Rapids, who is 18 and headed to Michigan State to play golf. Otto Black of Pinckney, the Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year for the University of Toledo, also won two matches to move on.

Rounding out the final 16 are Nate Golomb, a banker from Belmont, 2012 GAM champion Jared Dalga of Grand Rapids, Brad Bastion of Clinton Township, Loyola of Chicago golfer Nick Dennis of Waterford and golf club-fitter Ryan Johnson of New Boston.